Page 70 of Demon of Dreams

“Yeah.” I nodded. “She’s kind of hard to miss. What’s the name of their other friend? The one built like a sequoia.”

“Tim,” Felix said with an expression of distaste. “Timothy Kim. Another Hunter, like Sean. Not big on talking, but his fists tend to get his point across just fine.”

“Which you can find out for yourself, if you ever call him Tiny Tim in his hearing,” Ash said.

“Jesus,” I muttered. “He hasn’thurtyou guys, has he? I can’t believe the staff would just allow that.”

“Can’t you?” Ash arched an eyebrow. “Why would the professors here step in to stop bullies who they basically agree with?”

I opened my mouth to protest, but then thought about it. The bullies in my classes growing up had escaped punishment more often than not.

“You’d think it would be better here, though,” I said. “We’re not in high school anymore.”

“It’s not quite as bad as Ash makes it sound,” Felix said. “About a quarter of our class this year is paranormal. Sean and his cronies are the worst of the witches, but long as you avoid being alone near their rooms, you’ll be fine.”

“Probably.” Ash added. “I’d advise avoiding being alone with Sean anywhere, though.”

I hugged my arms around my knees, sick to my stomach. I felt ashamed on a whole new level. I fought the urge to confess it, to confess everything. Maybe that explained the tug in my core. Maybe it was my body, rebelling against me and what I’d done.

“So, wait,” I said. “You just called Sean and his friends witches. Are Hunters akindof witch? I thought they were just one of the havens, but sometimes you talk like they’re almost a separate species.”

“Because they basicallyare,” Ash said. “For all intents and purposes, Hunters are paranormal beings themselves, though God help you if you say that to their faces.”

“It’s normal to be confused at first,” Felix said. “Hexers, Healers, Harvesters and all the rest—they’re mostly your garden variety witches, with a few of us paranormals thrown in. They’re the majority of the student body, and they study in order to control, expand, create, or discover new spells and areas of power.”

He was counting on his fingers again, and tapped a new one. “Hunters, though. They’re witches, in that they’re humans and they have magic, but for the most part, they’re not spellcasters. Hunt is one of the hardest, and easiest, havens to get into, because by the time you get to Vesperwood, if you’re meant to be a Hunter, you know it. Magic is less something Huntersdo, and more something theyare.”

“Which is kind of ridiculous, considering they’re the most vehemently prejudiced when it comes to—” Ash began, but Felix cut him off.

“Can we not derail the conversation for like, five minutes, please?”

Ash glared at him, but didn’t say anything, so Felix continued.

“Hunters take all the same distribution requirements as everyone else,” Felix said, “but they’re basically here to perfect their fighting skills.”

“And harass other students,” Ash said, but it was quiet enough that Felix didn’t object.

An awful thought occurred to me. “Is Noah a Hunter?”

I already knew he hated me for seeing him at the Balsam Inn. It shouldn’t make a difference if he had a second reason for hating me too. But I realized, suddenly, that I really, really didn’t want to see the same look of disgust in Noah’s eyes that Sean had gotten when he’d talked about paranormal beings. I didn’t want to give Noah any more reasons to want me gone.

“You’d think he would be,” Felix said, “but actually, no.”

I blinked. “But he teaches Combat. I thought—”

“That would make him part of Hunt?” Ash said. “Understandable. But Noah’s not a Hunter. He’s just a human with a lot of experience fighting witches and paranormals. The head of Hunt thinks he should be fired, that he has no place teaching their ‘pwecious widdle baby Hunters’ but the dean wants him here, so here he stays.”

“That’s why everyone calls Professor Braverman by his first name behind his back,” Felix said. “They don’t think he’s earned the title of Professor.”

“Personally, I don’t think Noah gives a shit either way,” Ash said. “But, again, the dean says he’s a professor, so that’s the rule. Officially, anyway.”

I digested that for a moment. Noah had so much confidence, so much steadiness as he walked us through our exercises. He’d certainly seemed experienced with different fighting styles, as far as I could tell based on two classes. And he’d taken Sean down quickly enough.

I wondered where he’d learned all of that. What had brought him to Vesperwood. Brought him to—

Me, the voice in my head finished. I closed my eyes and tried to shake the thought away. Nothing had brought him to me. Our paths had crossed by chance, and if Noah had his way, he’d made sure they never did again.

“So what happens after we graduate?” I asked. “Are Hunters and Hexers like…Vesperwood’s army?”

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